I Bind Long Blackwood Poles Poem by Gert Strydom

I bind long Blackwood poles
with a blue pair of pliers and binding wire
between green palisades
and cut it with a old pruning scissor
into the right lengths
and wear a blue bull cap,
but the sun
burns the hell out of me
and every now and then
there’s coffee and water
and a friend’s pruning scissor
that I get from my sweetheart.

I work into the night
and she calls
and ask me
to stop working
and my neck and shoulders
and back and hands are sore
and my face is burnt red
by the sun,
but my sweetheart
is very happy
about how the fence looks.